Fifteen years ago, Scholar Muthamia was getting ready to welcome her second child. The pregnancy had no complications at all and when her son Ferdinand Mutugi Njuguna was born, he weighed a healthy 3.9 kg.Mutugi was as precocious a toddler as can be, and all was fine in the Njuguna household until the boy developed a peculiar walking style.He would push his left foot ahead while walking and he didnt seem to quite stand up straight, Muthamia says.We thought it was a unique walking style he had developed, and let him be. And weirdly, when wearing a pair of shorts or trousers, he would pull them up with his arms while walking and many assumed we were buying him over-sized clothes, she says.Later, Ferdinand began falling while walking. He also started having a hard time standing up from a sitting position. Climbing stairs became a hardship and he couldnt run as fast as he used to.He would get tired very fast and even started walking on his toes. We took him to various hospitals and eventually ended up at Kenyatta National Hospital where he was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy,she says.

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The disease that wastes away boys muscles - Standard Digital